SALT LAKE CITY — After his team’s eighth loss in the last 10 games away from home, Real Salt Lake coach Mike Petke blasted the game officials in an epic rant that ended with him swearing on live television before walking away.

His primary beef is Major League Soccer referees are not made available after games to explain disputed judgment calls. Petke was ejected from the contest last week after arguing a decision that led to a goal. The referee also did not review the play.

“To the MLS, it would be better for the league. For the fans, for the owners, for the coaches, for the players, to hear from them. And hear their side of the story,” Petke said after the game.

“Perhaps, we say, ‘OK I see it, maybe it happened a little fast.’ Maybe the guy in the booth, wherever the hell he is, watching this. You know, maybe he was watching the Simpsons at the same time, I don’t know. I have no idea, but it’s not good enough to me.”

Petke’s contention actually extends far beyond the soccer league. For years, critics have demanded referees be subject to postgame interviews in the same manner as players and coaches.

But aside from an occasional statement made to a pool reporter, referees are usually off-limits for interviews — for good reason. And let’s keep it that way.

Already in a no-win situation, referees do not need to be subject to postgame media interrogations. Unlike players and coaches, who often speak after their team wins, a referee’s only interviews would come in perceived negative circumstances.

Particularly in the NBA, referees already take enough grief during games. No need to add stress to an occupation that is almost always designed to anger one team, which in most cases — not coincidentally — is the losing team.

The accountability argument, in that referees don’t have to answer for their decisions, does not fly. Their performances are constantly reviewed, often with serious consequences for poorly officiated games.

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Real Salt Lake lost another road match, this time 3-2 at Minnesota United FC. But the real story was another epic postgame fire directed at MLS officiating by coach Mike Petke.

None of this is to suggest that officiating is always acceptable and does not deserve improvement. But the human element often does factor into athletic competition, and the participants have to play through bad calls. Over the course of a season, bad refereeing evens out, anyway.

“It evens out to me in the wrong way,” Petke counters.

Give credit to Petke for his passion and consistency. Two days after the rant, when his emotions were controlled, the second-year RSL coach refused to back away from his original comments. His only regret was using the expletive, for which he apologized.

For all his angst, Petke fears the MLS will make no changes. He said the league, founded in 1993, has made significant improvements in every area but officiating.

To him, it remains a league-wide issue.

“They’ve done a phenomenal job with this league growing it,” he said in an interview during my morning show on 97.5-FM and 1280-AM The Zone. “This is one of the remaining few things that I feel has stayed consistently along the same path and has not gotten better.

“To me, it starts with transparency. You never hear from a referee after the game, and I would like to know why that is. Why can’t we put a human element on it, because right now referees are not seen as humans. They’re seen as people who are protected.”

Interestingly, on the play in question that set off Petke the two broadcasting crews for each team saw it differently. Aligning with the broadcasters’ allegiance, the home crew thought the play didn’t warrant a foul call while the RSL side continued the complaint into the postgame show.

Ultimately, the play stood and RSL lost. No amount of postgame explanations would alter the score or satisfy the losing team.

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